Roving frame



J. F. HERUBEL ROVING FRAME Jag. 14, 1969 I of 4 Sheet Filed April 10, 1967 Jan. 14, 1969 J. F. HERUBEL 3,421,306

ROVING FRAME Filed April 10, 1967 Sheet 2 of 4 V I I A i I 52' 54 52 52 43 a an. I II v Ip, III 53 W 17 v v 17 V 52 e Li I 2 I I a I 43,q 52 12 52 5 7 5; 52 43,

Fig.3

Jan. 14, 1969 J. F. HERUBEL 3,421,306

ROVING FRAME Filed April 10, 1967 Sheet 3 of 4 l l 1 r '7" 43H 33 45 46 33 43 47 44 32 J. F. HERUBEL.

ROVING FRAME Sheet Filed April 10, 1967 United States Patent 3,421,306 ROVING FRAME Jean Frederic Herubel, Guebwiller, France,

N. Schlumberger & Cie, a French company Filed Apr. 10, 1967, Ser. No. 629,576 Claims priority, application 1France, Apr. 26, 1966,

US. 01. 57-71 Int. Cl. D0111 1/04; D01h 7/26; D01h 13/00 assignor to Guebwiller, Haut-Rhin, France,

4 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE The invention relates to roving frames, especially for W001 and synthetic fibers. The invention is more especially applicable to roving frames utilizing closed winding fiyers which are supported at two points, namely at the top and bottom, and in which the bobbin is formed by means of an upward and downward movement of the spindle with respect to the winding flyer.

The very high speed at which the spindles and fiyers of roving frames rotate introduces a large number of problems. For example, one result of such high speeds is that the fiyers tend to become deformed under the action of centrifugal force. Consequently, there is no longer a rigid coupling between the upper portion and base of the fiyers. The assembly then reacts on the spindle bearing which is consequently subjected to abnormal wear and no longer ensures sufficient guiding of the spindle, thus generating substantial vibration.

The known devices which tend to overcome these disadvantages provide only partial solutions to such problems, especially by reason of their high cost price,,inaccessibility of main elements, difiiculties involved in maintenance and replacement of parts.

The object of this invention is to provide an effective remedy to the disadvantages noted above.

To this end, a sleeve or collar which is made integral with the base of the flyer is rotatably mounted, in a bearing composed of two coaxial ball bearings located at a predetermined distance from each other in the axial direction while the bobbin supporting tube is guided within the collar and within a tube which is rigidly fixed to said collar and forms an upward extension thereof to a height which is as great as possible in order to endow the bobbin supporting tube with the maximum rigidity.

One form of construction of said roving frame will now be described solely by way of example without any implied limitation, reference being made to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is an elevational view of the spindle and flyer drive mechanism of a roving frame according to the invention, with a part in section taken on line I-I of FIG. 2.

FIG. 2 is a partial plan view of the roving frame; in section taken on line IIII of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a partial front view of said frame.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along the broken line IV-IV of FIG. 2, and

FIG. 5 is a detailed axial sectional view of the spindle and flyer arrangement in accordance with the form of construction of FIG. 1.

The top portion of the closed winding flyer 1 (FIGS. 1 and 3) is supported in known manner in a top bearing 2 but in a floating manner in order to ensure self-centering of said bearing.

In accordance with the invention, the bottom portion of the fiyer 1, namely the base 18, is secured, as by means of screws 31 (see also FIG. 5) onto a collar 3 which is mounted in a vertical bearing element 4 by means of two ball bearings 5 and 6, said bearing element being rigidly fixed to the base 32 of the roving frame. The upper ball bearing 5 is preferably of the angular contact type and the lower bearing as designated by the reference 6' is straight and rigid. These two ball bearings are located at a certain distance from each other, thereby greatly contributing to the stability of the fiyer when this latter performs its rapid movement of rotation.

The above assembly is mounted in the bearing element 4, in such a manner as to be abuttingly resting against a resilient ring 23 which is mounted in an annular groove in the bore of said bearing element, by means of the angularcontact ball-bearing 5.

The outer race of the lower ball-bearing 6 may be shifted axially within the bore of the bearing element 4 under the action of a helical compression spring 7 and clearance is provided between the upper face of the outer race of the upper ball-bearing 5 and the upper portion of the sleeve 3, so that said spring is able to urge apart the outer races of the ball bearings 5 and 6 and therefore to eliminate any play within said bearings toa maximum extent, thereby also contributing in a. highly effective manner to the maintenance of stability of the flyer and of the spindle during their rotational motions.

The winding flyer 1 is driven in rotation by a helical gear 8 which is keyed on the collar 3. The drive to the fiyers is effected from a longitudinal shaft 9 (FIGS. 1 and 3), two fiyers being driven simultaneously by means of a pair of bevel pinions 34 and 10 and a helical gear 11 which is simultaneously in mesh with two gears 8 (FIG. 1).

A nut 21 engaged on the screw-threaded end portion of sleeve 3 retains the gear 8 on said sleeve, while a spacing ring 35 is inserted between the inner races of ball bearings 5 and '6.

The movement of formation of a bobbin 19 is obtained as a result of the vertical displacement of a bobbin supporting tube 14. To this end, said tube is endowed with an up-and-down motion relative to the Winding flyer. The bobbin supporting tubes 14 are mounted on a carriage 12 which is divided into a number of elements forming spindle-carrier rails and driven separately in their up-anddown motion.

Each spindle rail 12 is moved up and down by means of two leadscrews 37 (see also FIGS. 2 and 4) respectively engaged in two nuts 38 secured to said rail. Each leadscrew 37 is rotatably mounted in a lower bearing 33 and in an upper bearing 36 secured to the base 32 of the frame. All the leadscrews are driven from a common longitudinal shaft 16 which carries bevel gears 41 in mesh with mating bevel gears 42 freely mounted on stub shafts 47. Each leadscrew nearer said shaft 16 is driven by a gear 43 secured to said leadscrew and in mesh with a gear 44 secured to the bevel gear 42. Each leadscrew remote from the common shaft 16 has its gear 43A in mesh with an intermediate gear wheel 45 freely mounted on a stub shaft 46 and in mesh with the gear 43 of the corresponding leadscrew.

The spindle unit is of telescopic design. and comprises the spindle 13 slidably mounted in an inner tube 14 or so-called bobbin supporting tube which is capable of moving vertically along said spindle with which it is rotationally locked by means of a key 20. The assembly consisting of the two members 13 and 14 is guided within a coaxial outer tube 15 or so-called collar-tube which is rigidly secured into the collar 3 and therefore, adapted to rotate with the flyer 1. The inner tube 14 is therefore capable of sliding over the spindle 13 and inside the outer tube 15 in both ends of which it is journalled by means of rings 26 and 27.

In addition, the bobbin supporting tube 14 is covered with a centering cap 24 and guide 25 which are adapted to accommodate the core which serves as a bobbin support. The guide tube 25 serves primarily as a casing for the top portion of the spindle unit, thus rendering this latter air-tight.

The inner sliding tube 14 is mounted on one of the spindle rails 12 through a ball-bearing 48. In principle, a spindle rail of this type is adapted to carry four spindles. The up-and-down motion of each rail is produced by means of two leadscrews 37 which are operated alternately in one direction assembly of spindle rails is balanced by conventional means (not shown) so as to provide smoother action.

The lower end of each spindle 13 is journalled in a bearing 29 secured to the base 32 of the frame.

Each spindle 13 is rotatably driven from a common longitudinal shaft 51 through a gear 52 secured to the lower end of the spindle, a gear 53 freely mounted on stub shaft 46 and in mesh with gear 52, a bevel gear 54 secured to gear 53 and a bevel gear 17 secured to common shaft 51 and in mesh with bevel gear 54.

This construction offers the following advantages:

Since the bearings 5 and 6 are mounted on a collar which directly surrounds the inner bobbin-carrier tube 14, the diameter of said bearings is accordingly reduced as far as possible, thus resulting in a corresponding reduction in peripheral velocity and in Wear.

Moreover, by virtue of the spacing provided between the two bearings 5 and 6 in which the collar 3 is rotatably mounted, the base 18 of the flyer which is rigidly fixed to the collar 3 is effectively maintained and remains in position even at the highest speeds of rotation, thus playing a contributory role in preventing vibrations in the flyer.

The collar and the flyer can be supported and centered within the bearing element as a function of the stresses applied on the spindle as far as is permitted by the residual play of the ball bearings.

and in the other. The complete Finally, the device according to the invention offers an advantage in that all the components are readily accessible, thereby facilitating their maintenaance and repair, and offers the further advantages of a cost price which is lower than that of device which have been employed up to the present time.

What is claimed is:

1. A roving frame comprising a rotary tube, a flyer secured to said tube for rotation therewith, a bobbinsupporting tube mounted for rotary and sliding movement within said rotary tube, a central rotary shaft mounted within said bobbin-supporting tube to drive the same in rotation while the latter is axially slidable on said rotary shaft, a single bearing member surrounding said rotary tube, a pair of spaced ball bearings in said bearing member for the rotatable support of said rotary tube, said bearings including inner races secured to said rotary tube and outer races slidably confined in said bearing member, and a compression spring between said outer races urging the same apart.

2. A roving frame as claimed in claim 1 wherein one of said bearings is of angular contact type.

3. A roving frame as claimed in claim 2 wherein the races of the other bearing have parallel facing surfaces.

4. A roving frame as claimed in claim 3 wherein said bearings are vertically spaced, the upper bearing being said one of angular contact type.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,168,927 1/1916 Bibby 57-70 2,664,696 1/1954 Quast 57-77 XR 3,316,702 5/1967 Pfeifer 57-71 XR FOREIGN PATENTS 19,053 11/1890 Great Britain. 480,432 2/1938 Great Britain. 927,749 6/1963 Great Britain.

OTHER REFERENCES DAS 1,016,166, Germany, Von den Beuken, pub. November 1957, class 57/67.

STANLEY N. GILREATH, Primary Examiner.

W. H. SCI-IROEDER, Assistant Examiner.

US. Cl. X.R. 57-102 

